Voices blog

At the beginning of July I joined the Citizenship Foundation as a Press and Events Intern in the Communications Team. I arrived to a whirlwind of planning, correspondence, and a mammoth ‘to-do’ list in preparation for an upcoming event at the House of Lords called ‘Young People Driving Change‘.

As a relative newcomer to the Citizenship Foundation I was unsure of what to expect in the run up to ‘Young People Driving Change’. Those involved in the organisational process had obviously put a lot of hard work in, but did this mean it was going to be a success? In one word - yes.

Although any event that runs smoothly, has a fantastic turnout and is granted the blessing of the English weather, (all of which true of last Wednesday) can be classed as a success, I think that an event needs to achieve far more than that to qualify. For me the true measure of success is in the ‘feel’ of an event and what we take away from it as individuals.

The ‘Young People Driving Change’ event definitely had the ‘feel good factor’. I would challenge anybody not to be inspired by so many ambitious, innovative young people voicing their opinions and talking so passionately about a wide range of issues. From deforestation in Cambodia to the issues facing Muslims in the wake of 9/11, young people of all ages illustrated to ministers, barristers, and other professionals how they were making a positive change in society. However, I would have to say the group of young people that impressed me the most were those involved in the Value Life project, an anti-knife and gun crime campaign. From a thousand strong peace march to producing a film, the phrase ‘the sky is the limit’ obviously features strongly in their mindset.

As an individual I also gained a lot from the event. As well as cementing my belief that young people can really make a difference if presented with the right opportunities, the event also opened my eyes to the benefits of these projects for the young people participating in them. Such projects build young people’s confidence and provide them with valuable skills they can use throughout life.

Overall I left the event feeling inspired to get involved in more voluntary work, optimistic that the Citizenship Foundation can really make a difference, and somewhat envious that I had not had the chance to partake in citizenship myself when I was at school.

Yesterday a team of Citizenship Foundation staff headed off to a West end premiere of Value Life, a movie by a group of students from Gladesmore Community School to tackle the issue of gun and knife crime in London.

It was amazing to arrive at the Prince Charles cinema to be greeted by a red carpet and lots of students from the school, apart the lack paparazzi it was like every film premiere I had ever seen on TV!!

Students were clearly proud of the achievements of the small cast who had worked with a professional director and two professional actors including Lindsey Coulson (who plays Carol Jackson in Eastenders).

As we settled down in the most comfy seats in the world to watch the film, I was filled with pride and nervous energy in equal measure. Pride because the Value Life project started as a result of Youth Act training with 9 students and two teachers five years ago and here we were in the West End with professional actors and an audience of about 250 people; nervous energy because I hadn’t seen the film and I wasn’t sure what it would be like.

The film is a 20 minute short about the reality of the lives of many young people who get sucked into the gun and knife crime culture - young people who are basically good but find themselves making major adult decisions over their ego, their family, their friends with easy access to weapons.

It was really important to see how easy it was to fall into using a knife or a gun: a pushy boyfriend can talk you into holding a gun for him; anger about a stabbing can result in you wanting revenge - it was all so easy, it was all so tragic, it was all so preventable!

The students are showing the film in Wood Green on the 20th of July - if you can, book a ticket to see it!

When Marguerite and I arrived at the auditorium at the Romsey School in Hampshire, we entered a world of organised chaos. Like elves in a workshop, over 40 primary pupils guided by 20 of their secondary school peers were busily cutting, gluing, measuring, designing and fitting.

In the background, a projector rotated pictures of carnival festivities in Rio, Trinidad and Notting Hill to the drum beat of soca, while the walls were adorned with messages, such as “what is your cause?”, “what do you care about?” and “what do you want to say?”  These questions were answered at the end of the day when parents gathered in the hall for the colourful culmination, a carnival where students paraded the social issue or charity of their choice.

Heather, who works with Go Givers schools in Portsmouth and Southampton, organised a full day event where pupils from Awbridge Primary School, Portsmouth Schools Student Voice group representatives, the Go Givers Club from St. Joseph’s RC Primary School, and a network of home schooled children came together to choose an issue they care about and then create costumes and floats to represent their choice.  Using the history of carnival as a form of social organising, Heather worked in partnership with community artist, Jennie Rawles, to give the pupils an opportunity to voice their concerns creatively. The event piloted the “Senior Leader Teams” model where Year 9 students facilitated the process with the designing and costume-making skills they gained in their training session with Jennie.  The older students took their jobs seriously, whether it meant maintaining the safety standards of the glue guns, or patiently helping their primary-age counterparts cut around a tricky bit of material, or making sure everyone was happy with their final product.

As Jennie pointed out, the event “gives them a chance to be creative.  Most people think you have to be an artist to be creative, but children see things adults might not.  They can turn a scrap of material into a sleeve.”  From a cardboard box converted into a 2-person dog costume to represent the RSCPA, to an old fleece transformed into a polar bear trapped by melting ice caps, an effect of global warming, both pupils and students learned how to be resourceful, but also that fun and celebration can make a difference.

This was my second session with the YLT and I was totally outnumbered 4 to 1 boys and girls, come on boys where are you?!
Anyway, following May’s session I think that this was again a great success, we battled through the boiling hot sunshine, and ended up doing half the session outside, building newspaper towers with the added twist of battling the elements. (more…)

I have first hand experience of the value businesses and their employees can bring to the classroom having been a volunteer myself and also spending my recent career managing employee volunteering programmes.  Increased motivation, confidence, self-esteem, employability skills and communication ability are just a few of the benefits to young people (and adults!) that spring to mind when I think about partnerships between businesses and schools.

I now manage the Giving Nation Challenge at the Citizenship Foundation which, along with other schemes such as Lawyers in Schools, aims to provide support to young people by providing adult volunteers to share their expertise whilst acting as role models and coaches in a classroom setting.

I am therefore very impressed to hear about a new campaign launched by charity Education and Employers Taskforce which is dedicated to help build awareness amongst organisations of all sizes in the public and private sectors about how they can support their local school and help shape the motivation, skills and employability of young people.

The ‘Visit our Schools’ week is taking place between 18-22 October 2010. It provides business leaders with the opportunity to visit their local school, meet the Headteachers, staff and students to inspire them to get involved and make a big difference to their communities.

Schools and colleges are encouraged to register to take part. Business leaders can also sign up to visit their local school.

I hope that this week helps to develop many fruitful relationships between businesses and schools and I look forward to updating you on the outcomes later in the year.